what are peacocks and peahens like?

[allisonwonderland]

HI,
i am very interested in raising peacocks and peahens but i don't know much about their behavior.
are they more docile or skiddish? are they really as loud and noisy as some people say?
any info on them would be great, thanks!

 

[rocktheflock]

from what i've heard they are really loud.

 

[Teach97]

They are even louder than folks make them out to be and will poop on everything and seem to especially enjoy scratching on cars...the newer and more expensive the better...

on the bright side they are very beautiful

 

[thedeacon]

I have had a pair of pea's for the last 8 years. I keep them in a pen, 20 x 60amf 6-7 ft high in the center, with a shed. She lays 2 clutches of 5 eggs each year, if you taake the first clutch away. They don't mate until at least 4 yrs old. Mine are not noisy like most poeple say. They can be, but not on a daily schedule. My favorite time with them is when it is rainy or overcast and the peacock "screams" and the "scream" echos off the close wooded stream. One can imagin they are in their native jungles. The peacock looses his long fan feathers mid to late summer every year. I feed them cracked corn and vegatables in season. It gets down to -30 sometimes. They are housed just like my chickens, in an unheated but draft free shed.

It's almost spring

 

[scooter147]

I had them at my previous place.

1. The males can be extremely noisy and their scream will make the hair on the back of you neck stand up if you are not expecting it.

2. I raised mine from chicks (I had 6) and 4 of the 6 were as wild as they could be, would completely freak out every time I would enter their coop. I never understood, I raised from chicks and was never anything but kind.

3. Did I mention wild?? If I let them free range they would run wild and took them several days before they came home to roost and I forget trying to "round them up" they would have no part of it and would run off into the woods.

4. Can fly!!!!!!! I had a fence that was 9 feet high and with every feather clipped on both wings (did the one wing clip first and that didn't work) they still managed to get to the top of that fence. I finally had to put a top on it.

5. The babies are very fragile, I tried letting the peahens raise them and I tried to raise them, I always had a very high mortality rate.

6. Require a lot more space per bird than chickens. Obvious statement since they are obviously bigger but keep this in mind when planning.

7. They are males are beautiful.

 

[Blackbird]

They can be noisy, but after a while one gets used to it and its just like anything else.
I think their personalities vary, just like people, we've had ones that don't like being around people, and others you can walk right up to and pet, but most people will say they tend to be more skiddish. They often have some of the greatest personalities though.

If you let them free range in breeding season and late fall they often will wander and are often hard to find and capture, it is best to have them in a pen or run during those times.

As said the males loose their long tale feathers in late summer/fall, and they will regrow them over the winter.

Peafowl generally reach adulthood at three years, which is when they start to breed and the males grain their full tail. They do require more space, especially the maes because of the tails, they generally get up to around 6 feet + long including the body.

If you have them enclosed they will need a roost.
They enjoy cat food as a treat.

 

[deerman]

I have over 100, in many colors. Yes the males call in the breeding season. Like rooster if they see their reflextion in the new car they will fight it.
Most peafowl you see are the India Blues(in many colors) also less know are the Greens.
Greens need heat in Northern state, and dont breed untill 3 yr. old.

Blues will breed at 2 yr old, but the peacock doesnt get the full tail(train). need more room pen 6ft tall with a top.

Not that hard to raised if raised on wire,and not placed on the ground until 10 weeks old.

note the 2 yr old peacock(blackshoulder) and he did breed, short train(tail)

 

[Blackbird]

Two years? I have never heard that before, very interesting

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Yes on the blues, sometimes you will even have a yearling hen lay, and if penned with older peacocks eggs will be fertile.

My 2 yr old peacock are penned with only 2 peahens. older peacocks 4 to 6 peahens.

 

[EweSheep]

I had a pair one year and got rid of them.....to me, they are beautiful but required a little more care than chickens and mortality is high for chicks.